The Tsunami is a spelljamming ship built and used by the groundling humans of Wa from the planet Toril in Realmspace.[1][2]
Description[]
These monstrous ships are amongst the most powerful vessels found in Realmspace, greatly outclassing such traditional heavy warships as Armadas or Deathspiders. The Tsunami is shaped as a monstrous, articulated metal centipede, winding gracefully through space. It is said that seeing a Tsunami turning in space is one of the most beautiful things to witness, but seeing it turning against you is the most terrifying. While the Tsunami is well-armed with standard weaponry, its primary method of attack is to unleash a "plague" of Locust ships to attack enemy craft. Above each of the Tsunami's legs is a hatch leading to a small cargo bay. These bays are also used as landing bays for the Locusts carried. Depending on the ship, the current mission, and the availability of Locusts, a Tsunami may carry anywhere from 20-80 Locusts (although carrying more than 40 is rare), each of which takes up 1 ton of cargo space. A Tsunami could theoretically carry 100 Locusts, but only for an incredibly short distance, since this would reduce cargo capacity to nil, allowing no food or water to be carried.
Every other segment of the Tsunami has an open deck on which weaponry is mounted. The tail end of the ship has two long appendages which are used to take a derelict ship in tow. The front of the ship mounts a pair of antennae of triangulation, enhancing the ship's ability to detect enemy ships. The legs of the Tsunami can be used to "walk" the craft while it is on the ground, as long as the ship's helm is manned. This ability is rarely needed. Along the spine of the ship are numerous gardens, lit by lanterns on poles enchanted with continual light spells. These gardens are decorative, but also freshen the ship's air envelope.
The Tsunami was designed and built in the last decade. When Wa discovered the presence of Shou Lung ships in space, they became fearful that the Shou had gained an advantage that could lead to Wa's ultimate destruction. They sent waves of spies to steal any Shou secrets about space travel. When they discovered the existence of the powerful elven fleets, they became even more fearful. This paranoia led Wa to to create their own space fleet. At first this consisted of Junks powered by traditional major and minor helms, but the aggressive Wa fleet quickly came into conflict with the Imperial Elven Navy, and most of these Junks were lost, and their expensive helms captured. In order to avoid this, Wa developed the ki-helm, which would be useless to the elves, and the massive Tsunami, which was intended to be impossible to defeat.
The Tsunami was largely inspired by the elven Armadas which inflicted such damage to Wa's first space fleet. The carried Locusts were intended to match the elven Flitters, while the Tsunami itself was intended to out-maneuver the elven ships which rely so heavily on their maneuverability. When the first Tsunami engaged in battle with an elven Armada the battle lasted nearly a day, but the Tsunami and its Locusts were ultimately the victors. A total of 8 Tsunamis have been built to date, and more are unlikely since the expensive craft have already nearly bankrupted Wa.
Crew[]
The air-freshening gardens on the back of a Tsunami allow the ship to carry 300 men without straining the air envelope. This allows enough men to operate the ship itself and its weapons, and still leaves 100 men to pilot Locusts, or perform other duties. In times of war, however, a Tsunami will usually carry closer to 400 men. The hierarchy aboard a Tsunami is incredibly rigid, and is followed strictly. Any dissention is usually dealt with via execution or "volunteering" for a suicide mission. The most important thing to the officers and crew aboard a Tsunami is honour and prestige. Each ship carries one admiral and three captains. One captain is in control of the crew who operate the craft, one is in control of the weapons teams and boarding parties, and the third captain is in control of the assault teams who operate the Locusts.
Ship Uses[]
Military: This massively expensive ship is only used as a military vessel, and it carries the prestige and honour of Wa in space.
Other Configurations[]
The Tsunami is so strictly regulated that no modifications of any sort are allowed by the admiralty of Wa.
Appendix[]
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Tsunami (spelljammer) article at the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
References[]
- ↑ Dale "Slade" Henson, SJR2 Realmspace, 1991, (TSR Inc.), The Tsunami, pages 94-96
- ↑ Dale "Slade" Henson, War Captain's Companion, Ship Recognition Manual, 1992, (TSR Inc.), Ships of the Spelljammer Universe, page 48